Perfect
by Laura's Fantasia
Summary: The moments after Santana slaps Finn. 3x06 Mash Off spoilers, oneshot.


**Couldn't get this out of my head and I have an essay to do, so I hoped that writing it would help me concentrate (instead I've just waited 2 hours). I've tried to use US terms instead of British to make it more authentic, but if anyone notices anything else just let me know :)**

The harsh sound of the slap echoed throughout the hall, stunning everyone into silence. Finn looked completely shocked, one hand pressed against his stinging cheek. Slowly his eyes returned to Santana, disbelief mixed in with a good deal of confusion in his expression. Still trembling from anger, Santana lowered her hand, her fists clenched. When Finn finally opened his mouth to speak, she turned, her heels clicking on the floor as she fled.

"Santana!" Mr Schu called after her, but she paid no attention as she pushed open the fire door next to the stage – the closest exit – and burst into the bright sunlight, breathing heavily as the door slammed shut loudly behind her. This was too much, this was all too much… how had everything gone so wrong? She had finally sorted things with Brittany, Artie was out of the picture, and she had been _happy_. Happy as if she hadn't realised that something like this had to happen sooner or later. She noticed a few football players looking her way, eyeing her in the black dress Brittany had picked out for her last week and turned away from them, running her hands through her hair and accidentally pulling several strands out of her ponytail. Her feet were aching from all the dancing she had just done in heels, but that was the least of her worries.

Her parents had never really said anything on the matter of sexuality, but that didn't soothe Santana's panic. What if they thought it was so bad that it just shouldn't be spoken of? What if they were horrified by the whole idea? And her _abuela_… Santana took a deep breath as the panic took hold of her again. Her _abuela_ had been trying to act as her personal matchmaker since Santana was thirteen, pairing her off with god knows how many Hispanic boys over the years, in the hope that Santana might take a liking to one of them and live the rest of her life happily married in Lima, Ohio with gorgeous Hispanic great-grandchildren for her to fuss over.

"Santana!"

She looked up immediately upon hearing the familiar voice to see the only person she could bear to see right now – Brittany.

"What's the matter? You were acting weird all through the song and then you sucker punch Finn!" she exclaimed, looking completely bewildered as she approached.

Santana sighed, staring down at the ground. After running from Sue's office earlier this afternoon she had cleaned her face and reapplied her make-up in the bathroom then gone straight to perform with the intention of forgetting about the situation completely. She hadn't been able to, though. For the whole song she was either staring at Brittany, glaring at Finn or gazing into space as she imagined her parents' reaction. And when she had seen Finn muttering his bile to Rachel, she had lost it.

Despite her best efforts, a tear escaped her eye and trailed slowly down her cheek. Soft fingers touched her chin, gently pushing her head upwards so she had to look up and into those bright blue, concerned eyes. The fingers moved to wipe away her tear gently, but that tender action only made more tears fall.

"Talk to me, Santana. You're scaring me," Brittany whispered. She looked genuinely worried, and Santana knew she couldn't leave her with that expression.

She sighed heavily, her hand rising to wipe away the rest of her tears hastily. "Everything's a mess," she whispered back, glancing over her shoulder to see several interested faces watching the proceedings. As if she had read Santana's mind, Brittany wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her away from the parking lot and round the side of the building where there were no witnesses. As she dropped her arm Santana reached out quickly to grab her hand, clutching it tightly as she tried to gather her thoughts.

"It's not a secret anymore," she explained quietly. The only thing that stopped her from staring at the ground was Brittany's blue eyes, never leaving hers. She frowned in confusion.

"What's not a secret? That Coach Sue is a vampire?" Distracted for a moment, Santana stared across at her quizzically, and Brittany shrugged as if it was obvious. "She never puts garlic on her food."

"How do you even – never mind," Santana replied, shaking her head. "I meant… _us_. Us being together. It's not a secret."

"Why not?" Brittany asked, carefully tucking a loose lock of Santana's dark hair behind her ear. "You decided it was silly pretending?" she asked hopefully.

"I… no, I'm sorry Britt. It wasn't me. It was _Finn_," she whispered with a fierce scowl, anger rising again. "He outed me, in front of _everyone_, and some bitch told her uncle and now it's gonna be on TV," she finally admitted, stumbling over her words.

"You'll be famous," Brittany replied with a comforting smile.

"Brittany!" Santana half-shouted. The blonde's face changed from vague optimism to dismay at Santana's reaction. "How can you not understand? This means everyone I know is going to know about us – about _me_, what I am! The whole city!" she cried out, her voice breaking on the last words.

Finally understanding, Brittany's arms reached out to envelop Santana in a tight hug, stroking the back of her hair lightly.

"It's going to be okay, Santana. Just think – we won't have to hide anymore. We can be us, wherever we want, whenever we want," Brittany whispered into her ear as Santana hung on to her, as if she was the only thing left supporting her. "No one here cares. My family don't care. Your family aren't stupid – they'll know you're still Santana, just… more special. More amazing. More perfect."

Santana couldn't help but smile at the comforting words and she hugged Brittany back tightly before pulling back a little, so her hands were still looped around her waist but she could look her in the eyes.

"My family's not like yours, Britt. They care about appearances."

"Well they don't have to worry about you, then. You're the hottest person at this school," Brittany smiled back reassuringly.

Santana let out a choked laugh, but her lips were trembling again in fear as she thought about the conversation to come. She already had a feeling this week was going to be a record for her in terms of the amount of times she cried in such a short space of time.

"Maybe I should just leave them to see the commercial and hide in a dumpster for a month until everyone's forgotten about it," she sighed miserably, resting her forehead on Brittany's shoulder.

"No, you need to tell them. Dumpsters are smelly, and I don't want to live somewhere smelly."

The fact that Brittany simply assumed she would stay with Santana wherever she ended up could do little else than make Santana wrap her arms around her again and hug her more tightly.

"You're the amazing one, Britt."

"Well you'll be amazingest once you've told your mom and dad. Do you want me to come with you? I can make them my great-uncle's special tea, that puts everyone in a magical mood."

"Uh, no thanks Britt," Santana replied. John Pierce's tea was certainly magical, but it probably wasn't a great idea to drug her parents while telling them she was a lesbian. If nothing else, they'd probably ban her from ever going over to the Pierces' again as long as he was living with them. "I think I need to do this alone. Tomorrow night," she added. She knew that if she named a time in front of Brittany she would have to stick to it, and if she didn't then she probably wouldn't gather the courage to tell them until it was too late.

Brittany smiled happily. "And after you can come round to my house for waffles with Lord Tubbington, and we can watch _Lady and the Tramp_ and do all the voices."

Although it might sound like a boring night, to Santana a night with Brittany all to herself – well, and that damn cat – was perfect. Knowing that was at the end of her conversation with her mom and dad would make it easier. And if they tried to tell her she couldn't go – well, she wasn't having any of that. Whatever happened tomorrow, she knew she would still have Brittany. She couldn't help glancing around just to check for anyone watching before leaning in to kiss her softly, her hand sliding down Brittany's arm to link their pinkies.

"That sounds perfect."


End file.
